Ballroom Dancing: The Romance, Rhythm and Style

Rating:
Summary: Captures Essence of DanceSport Nicely!
Review: As a competition dancer, I enjoyed this book thouroughly. The text is rich, and captures the essence of the Ballroom Dance very well. Accurate in content, this book describes aspects of DanceSport in a way that is satisfying to dancers, and yet would be very enjoyable and informative to non-dancers. Covering everything from the evolution of social dances to the rigors of Blackpool competition, and from what to look for in respectable dance studio to the disussion of DanceSport as an Olympic event, the book is very complete. It is a must have for DanceSport enthusiasts. The photos are vivid, though I'd have liked some detail in the captions. If you don't dance now, you'll want to give it a try by the time you reach the back cover. Nicely done Mr. Reynolds.

Rating:
Summary: The first text-and-photo book on DanceSport - not a "How to"
Review: First things first: BALLROOM DANCING is not a "How to" book - you'll find none of those left-foot/right-foot diagrams, joined by dottted lines, on its pages. Instead, you'll see over 100 color photos (most taken by me during visits to ballroom dancing competitions in Europe and North America) and discover an insight into the phenomenon of Ballroom Dancing - or, if you prefer, "DanceSport." I am not a competitive dancer - not even an especially good social dancer. But I was inspired, years ago, by the reply of Adlai Stevenson when asked how he planned to spend his retirement years. "I would like," Stevenson said, "to sit under a tree, drink wine, and watch people dance." Precisely. Watching talented dancers perform is one of the most satisfying - and perhaps oldest - of all spectator sports. So BALLROOM DANCING is written from the outside in - from a fan who admires the moves of the dancers, understands most of them, and can perform a few. This makes the book a journey in text and photos - exploring the appeal of the dance, assessing the explosion of interest in it, conversing with key personalities, visiting legendary locations (such as the Blackpool Festival - DanceSport's "Super Bowl"), and eavesdropping on ongoing debates (Is Olympic recognition really A Good Thing? Can Ballroom Dancing really be called a sport? Are its participants really athletes?) The primary dances themselves are described, from their historical roots through their social acceptance to competitive-level performances. Finally, the photos themselves reveal so much about the intensity and beauty of the performers - and, let's face it, of the performers' physiques as well. This is a book for both dancers and non-dancers to savor. Dancers, I suspect, will appreciate a book which presents their unique culture to a wider audience with respect and depth. Non-dancers, I'll bet, will begin to understand the passion and excitement behind competitive dancing, and why it may be The Next Big Thing. Most of all, the book was great fun to do, and I believe you'll sense my enjoyment on every page.

Rating:
Summary: Great summary of the Dance Sport world
Review: I ballroom dance competitively, and bought this book based on pre-release word-of mouth. Some of the pictures are spectacular, while a very few others are marred by spreading across two pages and thus being bound into the book's spine. Not all pictures are captioned...it would have been nice to know who everyone was, and where they were when the picture was taken. But don't let my comments deter you -- the *text* of the book is wonderful, and the pictures are very good. I felt that the descriptions of and explanations about Dance Sport were very accurate in terms of how one would explain competitive ballroom dancing to someone who's never been part of it. As far as coffee-table books go, if you're a ballroom dancer you should definitely get it. And if you're not a competitive ballroom dancer, but are curious to get a sense of what it's all about, then do get this book because it's a great summary of the DanceSport world.

Rating:
Summary: Great book
Review: Mr. Reynolds covers a wide range of territory and does a real service to the ballroom dancing community with this book. I found it to be very well-written and informative. I think this is especially good because it was not written by a dance instructor, but a musician with a sharp eye and a love for the human pageant. This is perhaps best suited for beginners, amateurs, and spectators since it is essentially non-technical, yet it's very explicit regarding why people dance and otherwise sacrifice their lives to it.

Rating:
Summary: A Lot of Fun!
Review: OK...if you are a professional ballroom dancer, maybe you will find flaws in this book. I've read your criticisms of this book in the Amazon reviews. But, to an amateur (like me) who has only had 25 lessons, I thought this book was thrilling! I loved the color photography of the dancers in their glitzy outfits. I loved learning about what goes on before and after a competition. I loved learning about the history of the dance steps and famous ballrooms. This book gives you a wonderful inside look at ballroom dancing and I recommend it. It also makes an excellent coffee table book. People who don't even do ballroom dancing are fascinated with it and enjoy talking about it. So there!

Rating:
Summary: Captures Romance, Rhythm, Style and Athleticism of Ballroom
Review: The book captures the essence of competitive ballroom dancing or what's now known as the Olympic-recognized "DanceSport". John Reynolds has done a great job in maintaining the views of the athletes and participants in ballroom dancing and profiles stars like Marcus & Karen Hilton, the "Torvill & Dean" of Ballroom/DanceSport. This book will hopefully continue to increase awareness to the general public that Ballroom Dancing is more than a social activity, but an Olympic-recognized sport.

Rating:
Summary: let down
Review: The book had too many poor photos. They were often so blurry they could hardly be seen. The better pictures were all split in the crack of the book and the good quality photos were of nonsense.

Rating:
Summary: Great photographs, Phantom captions, Questionable layout
Review: The full-color photographs featured in this coffee-table book are very stunning; truly an adventurous backstage tour of the action/glamour world of championship ballroom DanceSports. The written content of the edition is very discriptive. Did not appreciate the clumsey double-truck layout of at least two large photographs. Poor layout!!! Reduce those large landscape-format photos to fit on one page, not on two pages. Eliminating those annoying two-page photos would have allowwed for extra action shots. Need specific captions of every photo. Didn't know if these were amateur, or professional dance couples. I didn't recognise most of the couples featured in the edition. The general content captions didn't work for me. Nonetheless, this edition is a welcomed addition to anyone's coffee-table library.